Coat-brace.



B. NEWBURGER.

COAT BRACE.

APPucATloN mio oc. 2. i917.

Patented Nom 2, 191'?.

BERNHARD NEWlSURGER, OF .NEW YORK, N. Y.

COAT-BRACE.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

ratentea new. as, iai t'.

Application led `October 2, 1917'. Serial No. 194,367.

To all whom z'zf may concern.'

Be it known that I, BERNHARD NEW- BURGER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Coat-Brace, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

rl`his invention relates to body garments and has particular reference to coats adapted to be worn by boys, men, or others.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide for the back or shoulder portion of a coat a transverse brace so designed and arranged as to serve effectually to cure the wearer of having round shoulders. By the term coat as hereinafter employed in this specification l mean to cover broadly any garment adapted to carry a brace between the wearers shoulders for the purpose above indicated.

Another object of the invention is to provide for a coat a brace adapted to extend around or embrace both shoulders and have connecting means extending across the shoulder blades acting and serving to simultaneously draw the shoulders back and the wearer into erect form, and at the same time provide means to bear against the points of the shoulder blades so as to comfortably press the shoulder blades inwardly or forwardl with sufhcient force, however, to keep theaback in proper form.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the transverse web portion of the brace as to embody an elastic lacing member calculated to give sufficient extension or expansion for all practical purposes when the wearer is obliged to stoop forwardly and yet for the elastic to have sufficient strength for the main purposes of the invention.

1With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and tion is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested here in, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a coat indicating on the the inner surface of the back portion my improved brace in operas tive position; and

while the inveny Fig. 2 is Ya perspective view indicating the brace supported from the coat and representing the employment of the invention as a definite article of manufacture adapted to be applied to any coat.

eferring now more particularly to the drawings i show a coat 10, having armholes 11, around or from which extend sleeves 12.

My improved brace is indicated as a whole at 13 and comprises two members 14 and 15 which are similar to each other, but made as rights and lefts. rilhe member lll includes an annular member 16 to which is aflixed a web member 17. These parts are preferably made from one piece of material but as to the special construction I do not wish to be unnecessarily limited. Likewise the member 15 comprises an annular member 18 and web 19. Each annular member 16 or 18 is so cut and formed as to be approximately frusto-conical so that it conforms directly to the shoulder portion of the ligure when the coat is being worn. That is to say when the coat is on a person each annular member surrounds the shoulder and the outer edge portion thereof flares toward the neck and chest in front, while the back portion thereof lies flat against or over a shoulder blade. This shaping of the annular member into conical or tapered form may be eifected in various ways such, for example, as by the use of darts, either cut or uncut, or by cutting out one or more triangular pieces and then sewing the cut ends or edges together, it being understood that the annular members as well as the webs will be cut from flat material. The material may be of any suitable nature such as strong canvas, drilling, or the like, having maximum strength but of a relatively soft and flexible nature. The exposed or otherwise raw edges of the brace members 14E and 15 may be finished in any suitable manner such as hemming, overwhipping, or binding, but in any event the iinishing is preferably done in such a manner as to not materially increase the thickness of the material and yet such as to provide a means to prevent the fraying or unraveling of the edges.

The inner edges 2O of the annular members conform to the armholes of the coat and are preferably stitched or otherwise firmly secured all the way around the armholes. The outer edges 2l of the annular members likewise are preferably stitched throughout their length to those portions of the garment against which they lie. It follows furthermore that the arrangement and construction of the annular members constitute reinforcements for the armhole portions of the garment, a matter of vital importance irrespective of the brace eEect from one armhole to the other. This reinforcement of the armhole serves a number of important advantages such as the preventing of the ripping of the coat at such places and also the better preservation of the form of the coat in practice.

Each web member 17 or 19 lies Substantially flat, and in such form being fitted directly over a shoulder blade serves to bear u on the same with sufficient pressure to tend to hold the blade in proper flat position or pressed forwardly. The inner end of each web is preferably considerably wider than the neck portion thereof, or the portion connecting the same to the annular member. As to this particular design I do not wish to be unnecessarily restricted. The wide or flaring end of each web is provided with a vertical row of eyelets 22 and adjacent thereto is a vertical stidener or rib 23 which lies along the spine, and between the shoulder blades. The webs are so designed as to observe a slightV space at 24 between the eyeleted portions or ends thereof. The webs as well as the annular members are made preferably of inelastic material for the best preservation of the form of the garment for the reasons above enumerated. I preferably provide, however, as a connecting means between the two eyeleted ends of the webs an elastic cord 25, the same being laced through the eyelets and having its ends tied or secured in any suitable manner after the proper adjustment thereof is effected. In order to preventthe dangling of the loose ends of the cord I provide a pair of keepers 26 formed upon the webs and through or beneath which the free ends of the cord are slipped. These keepers may consist of any suitable flexible loops such as are commonly used on ladies garments in connection with hooks.

In the practice of my invention with -a brace fitted to a coat to be worn by a round shouldered boy, for example, the first application may be one in which the adjustment at the cord 25 is relatively loose so that the corrective effect of the brace will not be too severe, but after the subject becomes accustomed to the brace and the effect thereof has become appreciable,the elastic cord 25 obviously may be tightened so as not only to have the effect of taking up the looseness incident to the straightening of the shoulders but also for the application of slightly more force to the brace. In other words while the subject is becoming accustomed to the corrective force or tendency of the brace the tension thereon may be increased slightly from time to time without occasioning any discomfort whatever and yet insure a proper cure for the abnormality. The stiffeners 23 arranged vertically in the larger ends of the webs serve to keep the webs fiat or vertically expanded even though a considerable degree of strain may be borne cord 25. Thus the webs are kept fiat or in a comfortable position over the shoulder blades.

A device made in accordance with this invention adds very little to the cost of the coat and likewise increases the weight but slightly. In proportion, however, weight or amount of material employed the bracing or corrective effect thereof is very marked. `Furthermore the device is easy and simple both of construction and application to the garment; the bracing strain incident to its use is borne by the subject at Yexactly the right place and has no tendency either to distort the garment or cause inconvenience or discomfort to the wearer.v

I claim:

The combination with aV body garment having armholes and sleeves leading from said armholes,.of a brace comprising members surrounding the armholesV nd secured firmly to the garment adjacentito the armhole ends of the sleeves, said members surrounding the armholes serving to reinforce the garment at the seams, said brace furthermore including strong inelastic flexible webs free from the back of the garment extending from the members surrounding theV armholes transversely across the back so as to lie fiat against the shoulder blades, and means for adjustably connecting Athe inner free ends of the webs.

BERNHARD NEWBURGER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents, Washington, D. G. V

thereon through the v to theV 

